Study of the migration behavior of acetyl tributyl citrate from PVDC/PVC film into fish fillets as affected by intermediate doses of electron beam radiation

Abstract

Food-grade plasticized polyvinylidene chloride/polyvinyl chloride (PVDC/PVC) film (saran wrap) containing acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC) plasticizer was used to wrap cod and herring fillets. The ratio of film surface to weight of food was ca. 89:1, in contrast to the generally agreed relationship of 6 dm2 to 1 kg food (6:1). Wrapped fish samples were subjected to electron beam irradiation at doses equal to 5 and 10 kGy, stored at 4 °C and analyzed for ATBC content at time intervals between 12 and 240 h of contact. Determination of the analyte was performed by ultrasonic-assisted solvent extraction followed by analysis on a gas chromatograph coupled with flame ionization detector. Final ATBC concentrations in cod fillets ranged from 11.1 to 12.8 mg/kg, while the corresponding values for herring samples were between 32.4 and 33.4 mg/kg. Data showed that e-beam radiation at pasteurizing doses did not significantly affect the copolymer’s specific migration characteristics. On the contrary, fat content of the packaged fish fillets substantially affected the diffusion coefficient (D) values, as well as the extent to which migration of ATBC occurred. No violations of the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 1.0 mg/kg body weight set by the EU for ATBC were found in the present study. However, food overwrapping or rewrapping with flexible films is often applied in household applications. Since in such cases unrealistically high plasticizer concentrations are determined experimentally, present specific migration limits (SML) should be redefined on a different basis.